2014 © Anderwald + Grond
Newness is present when something is different from the past. A thing that is new must at least differentiate from what preceded it. In this sense, every discriminable item or thought is new, as a singular. It can be regarded as unique, as a discrete, specific item which is identifiably distinct with respect to all other items. It may be unique as a single instance of general, repeatable types or kinds. What is unique may be an actual experience or activity or consciousness, each of which is different from every other experience or act of consciousness.
New intellibibility is intelligibilitiy that occurs with an identity which appears as a sort of ‘Gestalt’, that is not reducible to its elements or conditions. The thing regarded as intelligible is an integration of elements, an ordered cluster or matrix whose identity is discernible in complex and coherent, mutual relevant features. Such an identity appears in what may be called a ‘structure’. The structure is distinctive, individual and unique. It is unfamiliar in that it is different from all prior structures. It is irreducible, yet it is intelligible. In system theory this new structural identity is known as a new system.
What is newness of valuable intelligibility? A new intelligibility is not an instance or example of a general or a universal. Rather, it is a type that is recognisable nowhere else, under no other conditions than those relevant to itself. Its individuality is one of contrast rather than sheer difference of singularity. It contrasts its intelligibiltiy, or its structural conditions, with all else that was intelligible before it came into being. Thus, the outcome constitutes its own context which contrasts with its outer context of the past. At the same time, the external context is essential to the recognition of newness.
Creativity and art: After one of our HASENHERZ screenings we had lunch with an artist whose film we had presented. We had a conversation about his recent work and his time at Art Academy. We asked his thoughts on art and creative behaviour. In his education ‘creativity’ was a word rarely used, as it was understood to be more akin with arts and crafts than fine art. Fine art meant more of a process of learning and transforming knowledge into art. In an attempt to democratise art and liberate it from elitist thought, creativity and gifted ability, it seemed, had been removed from the process.
See also: The Idea of Creativity, edited by Michael Krausz, Denis Dutton & Karen Bardsley, chapter Criteria of Creativity by Carl R. Hausmann, Brill 2009, Leiden Netherlands.
